Recipe - Lamb Meatballs in a Mushroom & Tomato Sauce

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Lamb Meatballs in a Mushroom & Tomato Sauce

A variation on the classic Italian meatballs in tomato sauce, using spiced lamb for the meat and a heavily mushroom laden sauce. Works great on a bed of linguini, spaghetti or other pasta.

These quantities are for 2 people, so calculate as required.

Meatballs

2 lamb leg chops (de-boned)

1 shallot

Salt & pepper

1 tablespoon plain flour

1 egg

2 chillies (fresh or dried)

Cumin seeds

Zest of 1 lemon

6 mint leaves

12 fresh rosemary needles (leaves)

Sauce

1 shallot

6 medium (or 12 button) mushrooms

Salt & pepper

200ml tomato coulis or a small can of tomato pulp

1 tablespoon chopped basil

Preparation in advance

Meatballs

Remove the fat and skin from the lamb. To retain a meaty texture, finely chop the meat into small 2-3mm cubes, alternatively use a stick-blender or mincing machine for more of a mushy texture. Place the meat in a bowl along with the finely chopped shallot. Very finely chop the rosemary, mint, chilli and basil. Grate the zest from the lemon.

Place the meat and all the chopped ingredients into a bowl with a good pinch of salt & pepper along with 1 tablespoon of flour. Beat an egg with a fork in a cup. Blend the mixture together with your hand and bind together, adding enough egg to create an only slightly sticky mixture.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan. Form the meat mixture into golf ball sized meatballs and place into the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes on two sides. Remove from the pan and set aside on a paper towel.

Cooking

Sauce
15 minutes before serving - In the same pan as used to cook the meat, fry the finely chopped shallot until softened. Thinly slice the mushrooms and add into the pan. When the mushrooms start to release the absorbed oil add a good pinch of chilli powder, cook for another minute then add the tomato coulis along with a pinch of salt & pepper.

Pasta

Either fresh or dried pasta can be used. Both are placed in boiling water with 2 spoons of olive oil in it. The cooking times will be indicated on the packet.

If you prefer to make your own pasta, then you can find a great guide with lots of pictures here or several techniques can be found here.

Serving

Cover the centre of your plates with the cooked pasta. Remove the meatballs from the pan and place the meatballs on the pasta then spoon the sauce gently over the meat.

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